North Korea says it can't pay UN due to UN bank sanctions

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- North Korea says it can't pay nearly $184,000 in dues to the United Nations because of U.N. sanctions that prevent the transfer of funds from Pyongyang.

North Korea's U.N. Mission said sanctions imposed by the Security Council last August on the Foreign Trade Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which is in charge of international transactions, have made payment impossible.

The mission said Ambassador Ja Song Nam met Undersecretary-General for Management Jan Beagle Friday to request the opening of "banking channels" so the DPRK can make its 2018 required payments for U.N. operations.

The United States banned the Foreign Trade Bank from the U.S. financial system in 2013 and the DPRK Mission blamed the Trump administration for spurring last August's U.N. sanctions against the bank.